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Tax.appeal.168, Tax Accountant

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I have a corrected W2 form from one of the companies I worked

Customer Question

I have a corrected W2 form from one of the companies I worked for and they did not correct the taxes for state that was removed on the corrected form. Could this cause any problems for me later. The original W2 they divided the state taxes for CA and LA but I did not work in LA. I have a permanent mailing address which is a post office box to receive my mail while I travel around CA for work.

Welcome. THANK YOU for choosing Just Answer. My goal is to help make YOUR life, a little...LESS taxing.

Q: Could this cause any problems for me later.

A: Yes, if you are supposed to report a portion of income to a particular state and you don't report it, you will likely receive a letter from the state taxing agency in the future stating that you understated your income.

You mentioned that the original W2 showed states taxes for both CA and LA. Do you reside in LA and just work in CA or the other way around? When a person lives and works in two different states, two different state tax returns have to be filed. One you file as a resident, and the other as a non resident. Usually the state of residence will credit back taxes paid to the non resident state.

I do not live in LA the post office box belongs to my sister. I do not have a permanent address in CA which is why I use the post office box to receive my mail. Should the company have added the taxes withheld for LA on the original W2 to the corrected one in the box for state income?

-----------------------------------------The income source state is the state that should be reflected on the W2. If the W2 that you have does not reflect this, you should request that a corrected W2 be issued to you.

my state of residence is LA but I do not own anything there. I work in CA and I am traveling around CA to find a place I can settle down and call home. From the original W2 can I add the state income amounts up to file the income tax since they did not do this on the corrected W2 to file or should I have the company reprint the W2 with the amount on line 17?

Owning property in a state has no bearing in determining whether or not you are considered a resident of that state for tax purposes. Factors such as if you have a driver's license issued from that state, a bank account, etc., things of that nature.

Q: From the original W2 can I add the state income amounts up to file the income tax since they did not do this on the corrected W2 to file or should I have the company reprint the W2 with the amount on line 17?

A: You can do this, however, it would be less confusing if the W2 reflected the correct information. If you had an income source from both states, then both states should show income and tax withheld if that was the case. see below:

Louisiana

Who must file

Louisiana residents, part-year residents of Louisiana, and nonresidents with income from Louisiana sources who are required to file a federal income tax return must file a Louisiana Individual Income Tax Return.

So you lived and worked in California the entire year of 2012? Is this correct? If so, then for tax purposes, you are considered a California resident whether you have a driver's license here, or have established a permanent resident or not. I was under the impression that you lived in LA and came to CA last year to work, but has a residence in LA. As you did not reside in the state of LA or work there, there is no reason that there should be tax shown for the state of LA. The only state tax information that should be shown on the W2 is California. I hope this clarifies matters for you.

I just found out the company I worked for took out over $5000 and paid to LA and I did not work or live there all year. Is there a way I can get that money back. I filed a LA state return because of this mistake and only will get back $59 dollars of this money.

It is likely that because you used a LA PO Box as your mailing address, the state of LA classified you as a resident, even though you technically did not reside there. What you will need to do is amend your state returns to reflect that in one state you are a resident, and the other state you are a non-resident. As explained in one of my previous posts, the state of residence will typically credit any taxes paid to the non-resident state. Even though you do not technically classify yourself as a resident of either LA or CA, for tax purposes, you have to claim residency in a state, especially since you worked in one, and have a mailing address in the other. You may want to refer to the following easy to read/understand article relating to determining your state residence.

The company did this by mistake but failed to correct it and notify me of there mistake. I did have to file as a nonresident or partial resident according to the selection but again this is not correct because no money should have been paid to LA in the first place.

As you were not obligated to pay anything to the state of LA, why is it that you are only getting $59 back instead of the entire amount that was paid to them? On the state of LA return that you filed, what did you select as your residential status? If money was paid to the state of LA, and you did not live there all year, you have to select non-resident on the form. You MUST indicate a residential status on the state tax return. Not selecting part year or non-resident, indicates that you are a resident, which is not the case.

Excellent information, very quick reply. The experts really take the time to address your questions, it is well worth the fee, for the peace of mind they can provide you with. OrvilleHesperia, California

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